Artist Suzanne Bocanegra will bring her "Rerememberer" to CounterCurrent 14. The piece involves 50 violinists, a weaver, an accordionist, a DJ and a conductor.

Photo By Courtesy the Artist

Artist Suzanne Bocanegra will bring her "Rerememberer" to CounterCurrent 14. The piece involves 50 violinists, a weaver, an accordionist, a DJ and a conductor.

Photo By Courtesy the Artist

Performance/installation artist Suzanne Bocanegra will bring her "Rerememberer" to CounterCurrent 14. The piece involves 50 first-time violinists, a weaver, an accordionist, a DJ and a conductor. It's inspired by weaving instructions, which are codified on a five-line staff identical to that used to write music.

The "language justice and language experimentation collaborative" Antena (Jen Hofer and John Pluecker) at the border fence between Tijuana and San Ysidro. Their installation at the Blaffer Art Museum will be on view Jan. 18-May 10, with a special series of events during CounterCurrent 14 that involves producing a bilingual, handmade book written by members of the Houston-based domestic workers' collective La Colmena.

Houston may have been lauded last year as one of America's coolest cities, but it's about to get more hip.

"It's really about new art forms, challenging our traditional notions of what arts are," said Karen Farber, the center's executive director. "We're trying to put Houston on the map for new performing arts."

While experimental, the festival's offerings will also be mainstream- and free, Farber said. "We're trying to break down all barriers, so people who typically don't go to see contemporary performances and visual art might encounter them accidentally and end up with a different perception."

With a headquarters in Midtown, the festival will unfold at venues between the University of Houston and downtown, including the university's Quintero Theatre and Blaffer Art Museum, DiverseWorks, Project Row Houses, Hermann Park and Multicultural Education and Counseling Through the Arts.

The events include performances by Mexico City's Lagartijas Tiradas al Sol collective, New York choreographer Jonah Bokaer, New York installation artist Suzanne Bocanegra and Los Angeles filmmaker Wu Tsang. Harder-to-define experiences feature Houston talent, including location-based storytelling by Lacy Johnson and Josh Okun that unfolds via participants' cellphones; a sound art installation by Abinadi Meza; and the launch of a bilingual book by the "experimental language" duo Antena (Jen Hofer of Los Angeles and John Pluecker of Houston).

The cost for the festival will be about $500,000, Farber said. It's being funded through the Mitchell Center's endowment, with some funds coming from grants from the Houston Arts Alliance.